A warrior is enlisted by a king to slay a monstrous and unearthly beast that has killed many men. Beowulf is a heroic warrior whose bravery and lust for battle is legendary. King Hrothgar, after having a night of extreme merriment, survives an attack on his great hall by a deformed and vicious monster Grendel, who has killed everything in its path. It spares him and goes back to the cave where it lives with its mother. Hrothgar announces that he will reward whoever kills this creature which has tyrannized his kingdom for years. Beowulf, along with his trusty comrade Wiglaf take up his challenge. At a celebration at the hall, Grendel appears again, eating, maiming, decapitating people. Beowulf finds its weakness, which is the noise, and pounds on its ears. He later tears its arm off as it escapes out into night. The creature retreats back to its mother, who is devastated to watch her son die. The kingdom celebrates their victory, the King gives Beowulf a golden dragon horn. That night, Grendel's mother visits Beowulf in a dream, asking him to father her a son. It seems that the King has been guarding a secret, he was seduced by Grendel's mother, thus, making him Grendel's father. Beowulf goes into the cave to kill Grendel's mother, only he is greeted with the image of a shimmering, naked woman. It's Grendel's mother asking for a son, in exchange she will give him riches and power. She takes the golden horn and tells him she'll grant him this and more, up until the horn is returned to him. Beowulf returns to the King with a secret of his own, he gave in to the seductress. The King declares him his next successor in the event that he dies. When the King finds out that he succumbed to the beast, he knows they are doomed, and he commits suicide. Beowulf is now the new King. Decades pass, and as it was foretold, he rules with might and gold. However, one day, they retrieve the golden horn, and sure enough, a new monster has appeared taking Grendel's place. A dragon, who is Beowulf's son, starts to terrorize the kingdom. Beowulf must now kill it as it tries to destroy the castle with its fiery breath. He finds a weak spot on its throat, and punctures it to squeeze its heart. They both fall from the sky, to their deaths. In his last breath, he tells Wiglaf that he is the new King now. And moments later, Grendel's mother slithers into view again, about to tempt her next victim.
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Best part of story, including ending:
It is based on a classic English poem that was written centuries ago and to have it brought to life via computer-generated animation makes the story even more exciting to experience.
Best scene in story:
When Grendel's mother comes from out of the water like a shimmering gold statuette, and it's Angelina Jolie!
Opinion about the main character:
Beowulf is a warrior at heart, so his mind is automatically set to defend himself and others. Honor and duty, he has both, but he is human after all and gave in to temptation. Nevertheless, he manned up and fought to destroy the problem he started.
An ancient warrior is summoned to defeat a terrible monster, only to find himself seduced by power and face to face with evil again years later. Beowulf is the greatest warrior of his era. He's called by King Hrothgar to come to Denmark with his army to fight a monster that has been terrorizing Hrothgar's land. This monster, Grendel, has incredible strength, and Hrothgar's people have failed to kill him using any weapon known to man. Every time they hold a celebration-- which is often-- Grendel attacks and murders men in the area. In order to entice Grendel into arriving, Beowulf holds his own celebration. Grendel eventually arrives, and Beowulf strips naked and goes into battle with no weapons; his justification is that if weapons haven't stopped Grendel in the past, they will be of no use to Beowulf in this battle. During their fight, Beowulf learns that Grendel is tormented by the noise of the celebrations, due to an intensified sense of hearing. Beowulf shatters Grendel's eardrum and removes his arm during Grendel's subsequent escape attempt, claiming a trophy in victory. However, when Grendel tells his mother what happened, she attacks silently at night and kills all of Beowulf's men, leaving alive only Beowulf and his number two man, Wiglaf. Hrothgar suspects in the morning that Grendel's mother is responsible, so Beowulf and Wiglaf set out to attack her. When Beowulf finds her, she is a beautiful woman, who tells him that if he will give her a son and a special drinking horn from Hrothgar's hall, she will make sure he is the greatest king in the history of the world. Beowulf succumbs to temptation, and he attempts to lie to Hrothgar about killing Grendel's mother, but as Hrothgar slept with Grendel's mother years ago (their son being Grendel), he realizes what has happened. He names Beowulf heir to the throne and kills himself, and we flash forward years later, where Beowulf is now king. When a slave to his royal advisor steals the horn from Grendel's mother's possession, she unleashes a dragon to destroy his kingdom. He discovers that this dragon is in reality his son. He successfully slays the dragon in combat, but he is near death after the battle. He names Wiglaf his heir, and he tries to tell the world about the reality of his dragon son, but Wiglaf opts to preserve his legacy instead, giving him a dignified funeral.
Best part of story, including ending:
It's a classic tale, known to many from their days in high school, and it's filmed in an innovative and creative manner, using motion-capture animation. It drags in points (as many old myths do), but overall it's quite entertaining.
Best scene in story:
When Beowulf has his showdown with Grendel naked in the royal hall, it's an exciting action scene with some terrific animation (especially of the disgusting Grendel).
Opinion about the main character:
Beowulf is an excellent lead because he is a such a fierce warrior, and although he's not always likable (in his treatment of women in particular), he remains compelling to watch.
